the last cowboy
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: kakashi was the last of a dying breed, a war veteran, discarded by his country, and left to die on the streets. she was a good semeritain, once an orphan and street kid herself. she knew how much it would mean to show such kindness.fem naruto/kakashi
1. Chapter 1

He sat on the cold asphalt, cold, hungry, wet from the rain. How long had it been since he had lost his home? Since he lost the only warmth and comfort he had ever known and had been froced to live out on the streets? A month? Two months? A year? He was'nt sure anymore. All he knew was that he needed to start stealing again, or he would starve, if he simply didn't die of exposure first.

He was a verteran. He had served his country during the past two wars, giving everything he had to his people, and getting what in return. Thrown out on the streets. Looked down on. He could'nt even work because of his current state. It was'nt that he didn't have skills, he did. Just none of them that he could use in a normal environment. He was a hunter, tracker and killer, reduced to a scavenger, who slept in alley's in cardboard boxes, using newspapers to keep warm.

He was a little bitter about the drastic change in his life. A little bitter that he had been discarded, and forgotten. He clenched his teeth and curled up in a ball as his stomach started to cramp painfully, reminding him that he was just a hairs breath away from taking a dirt nap due to starvation. He looked up at the people passing by his alley and felt the need to yell. To rant and rage at them for walking by and not offering a helping hand.

He was a person just like them! He had been born, and raised, had once been someone's son. He sighed tiredly, he didn't want to die. Not in a dark place alone. Not like an animal in the cold. He wanted to die in a warm place, with someone holding his hand and speaking to him in gentle tones. He wanted to feel loved again. Like he had when he had been a child, before his father had drank himself to death from sorrow.

He sighed again and leaned his head back against the brick building behind him and wondered if he would ever have those things again. And that's when he saw _her_....

Shayera Shilo Uzu Naru Namikaze, was walking down the street in the pouring rain with her closed umbrella in hand. God it was cold out today. The temperature having dropped to thirty or thirty five degree's making the wheather outside utterly miserable. She pitied anyone who was stuck in such wheather. And for the hundredth time in so many minutes wondered why she was out in such wheather herself.

She kept coming up blank. But then that was'nt really unusual for someone with so little phycic ability. All she really knew was that she was supposed to be out here. The persistant almost nagging feeling in the back of her mind had been driving her crazy for the past week. That and the wierd dream she had had last night. Normally her dreams were'nt so vivid. But then again all she really saw was the slightly dark siluete of a male body, the color of his hair and skin was unknown to her. But the sound of his voice and the color of his eyes...such lovely unusual things.

He had had mis matched eyes like the pet wolf she had once had after she had been adopted by the old man that had lived just outside of town. And his voice, such a wonderful sounding voice. Slightly soft, slightly raspy, it had reminded her of black velvet. She had heard it so clearly, she would recognise the sound anywhere. She paused in mid step when she felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to see a figure huddled in the mouth of the alley just ahead of her and cocked her head.

Was that him? She walked forward and stopped right beside him and opened her umbrella and held it out over his head. "You okay?" She asked gently as the man's head turned so that he could look at her. He had a suprised look on his face as he stared at her with his...mis matched eyes. It was him! She suddenly felt like clapping her hands and laughing, she was'nt crazy!

She might have done just that if he had'nt looked so damn sick. He was wearing a thin worn wife beater, and some torn jeans, no socks, and shoes with holes in them. His skin was an almost snow white, and he was suffering from starvation and cold. "Ma'am?" He rasped as she dropped to her knees beside him on the cold ground and shrugged off her jacket and did the most peculiar thing, she wrapped it around his shoulders and he could automatically feel the differance.

He felt a so much warmer. What was she doing? Why was she helping him? He wondered as she brushed his long dirty, shaggy looking hair back from his pale face gently. "You look like you need some food and a nice warm place to stay. Would you like to come with me?"

He frowned a bit and turned his head as she ran her hand along his cheek and could'nt help but lean into the warmth. He was so cold. And she was so warm. At that moment he didn't really care that she was just a kid, that she might be toying with him, that she could be as dangerous to him as he could be to her. Desperation drove him to nod his head. Yes he wanted food. Yes he wanted a nice warm place to lay his head. He wanted to live. To feel human again. He wanted those things so badly the very core of his being ached.

"Okay. Can you stand up?" She asked gently. He nodded his head again and slowly, carefully got to his feet. She kept the umbrella over his head and made sure to stay close just in case he needed her help. They would stop by the diner a little ways down the street and get him something to tide him over until she got him home and cleaned him up.

He followed her carefully, afraid that if he left her side she might run and noticed that they were heading towards a local diner. Was she planning on feeding him before she took him to the warm place that she had promised him, or was she just another bitch playing with him. He studied her slender frame for a second as she reached out to open the door to the diner. She was a pretty little thing, slightly taller than most girls her age, her head reaching his chest, her strawberry blond hair was long and soft, hanging down to the middle of her back in a loose braid.

She held the door open for him, and he walked inside while silently berating himself for not opening the door for her. He had manners after all, his dad had all but beat the damn things into his head as a child, and he silently swore that he would pay closer attention to such things from now on.

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first chapter down, whoo.


	2. Chapter 2

He followed her over to the third booth against the window and sat down only after she had, he was a gentleman after all, and looked a bit taken aback when she handed him a menu. "Order whatever you want." She said gently and he could'nt find his voice at the moment to say anything, so he simply nodded his head as a waitress walked over to them and asked them what they wanted to drink as she eyed-not him but the girl across from him like she would like to knock that sweet smile right off of the blond's face.

He frowned a bit, finding it odd that the waitress would look at a paying customer like she was an insect or something. Usually people looked at him like that. "Ma'am, not that I'm not thankful for what your doing, but can I ask why your doing this?"

"Because you need it." She said as she looked around him and thinned her lips when she saw one of the cooks spit in her drink and sighed. Some things never change. No matter how much she tried to change the opinions of others, they still hated her for what her family had done twenty or some odd years ago. Even though they knew that she was'nt the one responsible, it still didn't change anything.

He cocked his head and studied her. That was'nt much of an answer, but he'd take it for now. "What's your name?" She asked curiously as the waitress set their drinks down in front of them and gave her an evil smirk before walking off. They would'nt dare add bleach to her drink again, would they? She wondered as she looked at it suspicously. The man across the table from her narrowed his eyes at the look on her face and sighed.

The waitress must have spit in her drink or something. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. What's yours?" He asked curiously, he supposed that it was only right to know the name of the girl who was helping him out.

She gave him a shy smile that made him smile. "Shayera Namikaze." He stiffened and tilted his head slightly, the look on his face suprised. _Namakaze._ It was the most well known name in the state, Kakashi remembered one of his military comrades had been a Namikaze. He had been good friends with the guy up until a stray bullet had killed him during one of the gun fights, he had'nt been aware that Minato had had a kid, or a wife for that matter. If he had, he would have come back to town much sooner to offer his assistance.

"What was your dad's name?"

"Dunno, I never knew him." Kakashi frowned a bit. That didn't sound quite right.

"What about your momma's name?"

Shay shook her head. She had been left in a trash can wrapped in a bloody plastic bag to die as a baby. She had never known about her parents until a few years ago when the old man who had adopted her died. "Why do you ask, Mr. Hatake?" She asked curiously, the guy was acting like he knew something about her parents.

"I knew a guy in the navy, he looked just like you. His name was Minato Namikaze. Nice guy, funny, smart, fierce, I was really upset when he died." Because he had thought of Minato as his brother. The only family he had left in the world. If Sahyera was Minato's kid then she was his family now. The thought made him feel warm inside.

Shayera had a sad look on her face. If the man Kakashi was telling her about was her father then she would have liked to know him. They sat in silence for another minute or two as the same waitress from earlier brought Kakashi his food. He looked at Shay and frowned, was'nt she going to eat something? "Ma'am, are'nt you-"

"I'm fine, Kakashi. Just eat." Shay said gently, making him feel like a total bastard. He was tempted to push the food away but his stomach was cramping so painfully, he was so hungry. She smiled encuragingly as he picked up his fork and started wolfing down his food.

Kakashi was'nt sure how much he had eaten, but there was a nice pile of plates on the table by the time he was done. He leaned back in his seat and sighed, oh god he could'nt remember the last time he had felt so full that he might actually pop. Shay smiled at him. "Feeling better?"

"Much better, ma'am. Thank you." He said as he closed his eyes and felt his mind wander as she got up and went to pay the bill. She came back a few minutes later and shook her head. He was starting to go to sleep on her. Reaching out she laid her hand on his shoulder and lightly shook him until he looked at her.

"Come on, let's get you home." She said with an amused smile. He stared at her for a second. _Home._ That sounded so nice. But he didn't have a home. She took his hand and tugged gently so that he would stand and quietly led him out of the diner and to a black car parked across the street from where they had been and opened the door so that he could climb in.

He studied her for a second before getting in. Wondering where exactly 'home' was as she started the car and slowly pulled away from the curb and started driving. "How old are you, ma'am?" Kakashi asked curiously. If she could drive then she must be in her early to late teens.

She looked over at him for a second. Didn't he know that asking a girl her true age was asking for trouble? "I'm seventeen." She said as she stopped the car at a red light. Kakashi made a 'Hn' sound, she was only a few years younger than him. Four or five years younger than him in fact. Which meant that Minato had knocked her mother up when he was in his fourties. Damn, that was unusual.

And she had'nt known about her daddy at all. That was even more unusual.


	3. Chapter 3

She pulled into the drive way of a cozy two story house with a large field, a cabin, a small barn with some horses running around in a corral outside the barn. It was a nice little piece of land. "Ma'am, you live here?" He asked as he looked around the place. When she had said 'home' he had thought that she was going to drop him off at a shelter or something, not actually bring him home with her. And yet that was exactly what she had done. Brought him to her home. Why? For what purpose?

He could be a serial rapist /killer for all she knew. So why bring him here to her home? He just didn't understand.

"Yeah. My late grand father left it to me when he died." She said as she got out of the car after switching it off. He looked around for a second before thinking, maybe she was the serial killer and he was going to be her next victim. It was a sobering thought.

"Ma'am, your not one of those phyco killers are you?"

Shay looked at him and cocked her head, what a weird thing to ask her, but she supposed that he had a point in asking. One could never be too careful. "Are you?" She asked. Kakashi blinked at her. He wasn't so sure that admitting that he was a trained killer at this point would be wise but he wasn't about to lie to her.

"Sort of-" There was a flash of panic on her face as she took a several quick steps away from him and stared at him wide eyed. Kakashi realised his mistake almost immediately and lifted his hands out in front of him and started shaking his head.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. I was in the navy! I killed people shooting at me! I wouldn't hurt a defenseless girl!" He sounded so appalled by the notion of hurting a defenseless girl that she decided not to tell him that she knew three forms of martial arts, kick boxing and she was a sniper shot with a gun.

"Well, thats good to know." She said as she moved back to his side and took his hand again and this time led him to her front door and unlocked it and pushed the door open and switched on the light.

"Come on in, Kakashi." She said as he looked around the room from the door way for a second before walking into the living room and looking down at his feet then back at her. He was covered in mud, dirt and grime, he was'nt exactly sure why she had brought him here but he felt uncomfortable standing so close to her nice clean floor. He was worried that he would make a mess.

Shay looked at him from where she stood down the hall and frowned. "Kakashi, is everything okay? You know that you can come in right?"

He looked at her, she had such a look of concern on her pretty face that his chest ached. "I'm kind of worried about getting your floor dirty, Ma'am." Kakashi said softly, and was about to walk back outside when she smiled at him.

"Is that all that's bothering you. Okay stay here for a second, I'll be right back." She said with a grin as she opened the door behind him and walked outside, leaving the door slightly ajar and came back in a second or so later covered in mud and walked past him and then looked back at him and said with a grin.

"Problem solved, please shut the door behind you." Kakashi gaped at her. He just was'nt sure what else to do. He had never met someone who would actually roll around in a mud puddle in nearly freezing temptatures just to make him feel welcome before. _She was really something._ He thought as he quietly shut the door and pulled off his shoes and followed her foot prints down the hall to the kitchen.

"Everything okay now, Kakashi?" She asked as she turned to look at him as she washed her hands in the sink. She would take a shower as soon as he was settled.

"Can I ask you something? It's sort of been bothering me since you walked up to me in the alley."

"Sure." Shay said as she shook her hands to dry them since she didn't want to ruin her dish towel.

"Why are you helping me? Why bring me here? Why not just drop me off at a shelter?"

"Because a shelter would only help you so much before you would end up back out on the street. As for the rest, I used to live on the streets when I was a kid. I know how hard it is. How scary it is. How despreat a person can get without food, shelter, or companionship. And to be perfectly honest, no one should go through such a thing alone. You can think of this place as your own home for as long as you want it to be. I'll feed you, provide some clothes, and when your ready to move on, I won't stop you." She said with a smile. Kakashi gritted his teeth for a second before he reached out and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.

He was'nt sure what to think of her. But he felt very grateful to her for offering to give him the things he had wanted, needed and longed for ever since he had started living on the streets. She was giving him a chance. To be needed again, to feel human again. The dam of emotions that he had been holding inside for so long broke, he took a ragged breath as tears slipped down his face and started babbling as he held her.

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I swear I'll repay you for this. I swear."


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi felt considerably better after he had taken a nice long hot shower and scrubbed himself so clean that he would swear that he had scrubbed off some of his skin along with the dirt. He almost felt like himself again. Almost felt like a man again. He pulled on the sweat pants that Shay had given him and tied the draw string as snug as he could. But the pants still hung low around his hips. He would have to get used to having food again, and start gaining some weight and exercising again.

He looked at his hair and sighed, it was too long for his liking, the tips hanging well past the middle of his back. _I need a hair cut._ He thought in irritation as he went through the cabinet drawers and found some scissors to cut his hair with and went to find Shay. He found her coming through the door with her hair dripping wet with a towel wrapped around her shoulders and wearing a clean outfit, ah she had used the shower someplace else.

The cabin out back maybe. "Is everything okay?" Shay asked curiously as she ran the towel over her thick hair to try and get some of the strands dry.

He raised a brow at her, is she trying to catch her death? He wondered as he set the scissors down and reached out and grasped her shoulders and pulled her closer to him and took the towel from her hands and started to dry her hair for her with a vigorous rub and couldn't help but notice that she kept trying to escape him. He rubbing too hard. He knew it, but couldn't help himself from doing so as he paused to run his fingers through her damp hair. _Good, then maybe she'll learn not to run around in nearly freezing temutures with her hair wet. _

"Stay still, Shay." He said as he had to stop to pull her back into place in front of him. She groaned like a little kid trying to escape a parent, making him smile.

"Ow-hey-ow,ow,ow my head. It hurts. Stop!" Shay said in between peals of laughter and yelps. Kakashi finally finished drying her hair and finger combed the silken strands until they were nice and neat before firing the towel at her. She shrieked and ducked through the kitchen door before peeking out at him.

He laughed. Not just a soft amused sound, or the brief curving of his lips. But actually laughed, the sound was so loud that his chest vibrated from the sound before he sobered up and coughed a few times as he regained control and picked up the scissors. "Are you any good at cutting hair?"

"Nope. Not at all." He snorted, that sort of figured but whatever. He would simply tie it back until he could get it cut.

"You look better." She said as he bent down to pick up the towel, but she beat him to it and gave him a cheeky grin before disappearing into the kitchen and putting it in the dirty clothes hamper.

"I do?"

"Yup, just a bit. You're still pretty pale, and thin but that's nothing that good food won't fix." Shay said with a grin as he moved to stand in the kitchen door way and watched her pull out some pots and pans to cook dinner.

He made a 'hn' sound again. "Think so?"

Shay grinned at him as she wound her thick hair up into a twist style and used a hair clip that she had had put in one of the drawers, and started to pull some things out of the fridge.

"I was thinking...about how to pay you back for helping me."

Shay looked at him as she paused in chopping up some peppers, and eggplant. "Kakashi, I don't-"

"Please, hear me out first. You're stuck on this ranch with horses, I'm also assuming that you have some live stock, I could stay on as your helper. I noticed on the way up the drive way that the roof is missing some shingles, that the porch needs some repairs, the corral, and fence, and the barn all need to be taken care of too. I'm very good with my hands, and I know quite a bit about building things, fixing them and taking care of animals. I don't expect you to pay me unless you can, but I owe you for the help."

"That's very kind but, I can take care of those things." Shay said quietly, it wasn't that she wasn't grateful that he wanted to do those things for her but she would rather do them herself, she would worry too much about his health if he tried to repair many of the things. Kakashi apparently didn't like being turned down because he crossed the little distance between them and took the knife from her and pulled her over to the table and forced her down in one of the seats.

"Tell me why you would turn down the help." He said somewhat coldly. He was a man for god's sake, he was used to feeling useful and doing something to earn his keep.

"I would worry about you getting hurt-" He looked at her in surprise as she continued to tell him her reasons for turning his offer down.

"I know that you want to help me for helping you, but I really don't expect you to do anything that I, _myself _wouldn't do. I'm responsible for your health and safety while your here, if you got hurt, how do you think I would feel? What if you were fixing the roof, got really hot and fell off and broke your neck. How do you think I would feel knowing that it was my fault?" He studied her for a second. She was responsible for him, huh? It was a new concept, one that was totally foreign to him, but he some what understood her feelings.

"Look, Kakashi, I'm not saying that you can't do it, but for now the repairs on the roof and such can wait until the weather gets warmer. And when you do, do it; for gods sake be careful." Shay said tiredly as she hung her head and used her hands to massage her temples.

She was getting another headache again. "Then what would you like me to do for you in the mean time?" Kakashi asked. She looked up at him after a second or so.

"I really can't think of anything, but if something accrues to you then by all means go for it."


	5. Chapter 5

_"I really can't think of anything, but if something accrues to you then by all means go for it."_

Kakashi sat at the table watching her as she pushed her food around her plate and wondered why she was'nt eating again. Coupled with his knowledge of body language, and the way she kept getting a pained expression on her face and massaging her temples; he had enough information to know that she was'nt feeling well at all or she would be eating. He pushed his plate away and leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest and studied her.

She looked like she was about to callapse or something, and he was sure that if not for the fact that she was sitting down she might have actually done just that. "I should wash the dishes." She said as she started ot get up, but Kakashi reached out and put his palm against her cheek and stared at her through narrow eyes.

The damn girl had a fever! "Shay, how long have you been feeling sick?" He asked as he slowly got to his feet. She looked at him through glazed eyes and tried to think. She had been sick off and on for the past few days but she had simply thought it was a bug or something. And because she had'nt had a fever or anything she had'nt thought twice about going to a doctor.

"A few days." She said as she stood up. Kakashi swore under his breath, she had been out in the cold and rain to get him. Had been running herself ragged to help him settle in. Damn it, he didn't need help so much that she should sacrifice her health to help him. He almost prefered being out on the streets to knowing how sick she was becoming while taking care of him. That was when it occured to him.

He finally knew why he was here. He was here to take care of Shayera, make sure that she was healthy and happy since she was so concerned about his health and his happiness, that she had gotten sick while taking care of him, then he would return the favor and take care of her. "Where's your room, Shay?" He asked as he grasped her wrist to keep her from picking up one of the plates on the table.

Her eyes flickered to his and she hesitated a moment as her vision faded in and out for a second. "Up the stairs, second room on the left. Why?" Kakashi leaned down and scooped her up, causing her to make a strange sound as he started walking down the hall towards the stairs and took them two at a time until he reached the landing and walked to the room she had said was hers and used his foot to nudge the door open and walked inside and put her down on the bed.

"Tylenol?"

"Bathroom cabinet." Kakashi nodded his head and went into the bathroom across the way from her room and found some tylenol for her then went and got her a glass of water from the kitchen and made his way back up the stairs and handed them both to her. She took the pills and drank some of the water then handed the cup back to him and sighed as she lay down.

"I did'nt think I would get sick."

Kakashi snorted, he knew that but she was and needed to be taken care of, which meant that he had a purpose again. And his purpose went perfectly with his protective instincts towards the fairer sex. He tugged her shoes off of her feet and pulled the covers up to her chin and placed his hand against her forehead and closed his eyes. Her fever had to be little over one hundred and three point six degree's.

If it got any higher she would have to go to the hospital. "Just stay here and rest, I'll be back in a little bit to check on you."

"What are you going to do?"

He looked at her and smiled happily. "I'm going to take care of you."

_So my misery makes him happy, huh? It's nice to know the easy way to his heart. I'll have to be sure to hurt myself every other day or so just to keep him so chipper. _She thought in wary amusment as he went down stairs to fix some soup for her to eat later.

After which he washed the dishes and went back upstairs to check on her and smiled a bit when she muttered something in her sleep that sounded suspicously like 'who's brilliant idea was this' followed by something about retarded catipillars, and bears with kataka's. What was she dreaming about? He wondered as he shook his head and quietly slipped form the room after checking her temp.

He walked back down stairs and started to familiarize himself with the house that Shay had said to think of as his own. Going from room to room to study it, and learn some of Shay's tastes. She liked flowers. Understandable for a young woman, but there was no sign of real flowers in the house, just pictures that she was using to lighten the mood of each room. There were no knick knacks, nothing that could really clutter any of the rooms. No dolls, no child hood treasures, although he found a mountain of books in one room, spanning from floor to roof from one wall to another and even some in piles on the floor.

She liked reading, and from what he could tell and would delve into anything she could get her hands on. She must have spent a lot of time in the room, it smelled like her. Sweet, like wild flowers.

She had no boyfriend, no romantic relationship what so ever, it seemed that she simply was'nt interested in such things. A pity since she was such a sweet, and kind hearted girl.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh my god Kakashi, this is....wonderful." Shay said as she took another bite of the chicken soup that he had made for her a little while ago. He smirked at her and leaned back in the seat that he had dragged over to her bed.

"That good huh?" He said in amusment. She acted like no one had ever fixed home made style chicken soup for her before.

She nodded and picked up her grilled cheese sandwhich and tore it in half and held one half out to him. He started to shake his head and tell her to eat it but his stomach growled, reminding him that he should take every oppertunity he could to eat now that he was finally indoors again. She swallowed the bite that she had taken as he took the half that she had offered him and sat back in his seat and ate with her.

"Very good, I'm suprised that some girl has'nt snatched you up yet." Kakashi paused with the sandwich half way to his mouth and eyed her curiously. Where had that come from?

"Really I'm sort of suprised that _you_ have'nt been snatched up, yourself. There's a story behind that is'nt there?" He asked as she suddenly seemed to shut down. He had said something that had hurt her. But what?

"Yeah." She said in a sad tone. But it was'nt one that she felt like sharing.

"You'd like to settle down, would'nt you?" Kakashi asked curiously, tilting his head to the left slightly.

Shay closed her eyes and imagined a life with a husband and children and felt her lips curve up in a smile. God yes, she wanted a family of her own. Had wanted one since she was a kid, picking pockets, and stealing just to survive. "So much. I want that so much." She said breathlessly as she opened her eyes.

Because of what her family had done to the people of the town, Kanoha; she could'nt settle down peacefully. The people protested her very existance in the town, had even gone so far as to attack her physically from time to time. The last time they had attacked her, the barn had been burned down with three of her late grandfather's horses inside.

She had managed to save two of them, but had been forced to shoot the third before it could burn to death. That had been one of the most horrible things that she had ever had to endure, so having a family, people that would become targets themselves; would be the most painful thing to ever happen to her. She would constantly live in fear of what might happen to them if they step foot out her door.

But that didn't stop her from wanting those things. It was only human nature after all.

Kakashi studied her for a second. It was true, she did want those things. He could see the raw longing on her pretty face. Kakashi closed his eyes and thought for a second before stupidly blurting out, "Then you could marry me." As soon as the words left his mouth he slapped his hands over his mouth and stared at her wide eyed. Where the hell had that come from? He had only just met her!

It was true that he wanted a family. A wife, and kids. A white picket fence, to live the dream that he had fought for during the war. Shayera was a sweet, kind and compassionate girl. They would do well together, and he would take care of her regardless of whether things worked out or not.

She stared at him and noted the look of shock on his face and felt like both laughing and crying. He had'nt meant to say that, the words had simply slipped out without his realising it. "Ummm, thanks. I guess, but you don't mean it, so I'm going to say no." She said kindly as she set her bowel of soup down on the tray he had set on the bedside table and lay down. She didn't think it was wise to continue thinking such things.

It only made her want to cry. But Kakashi seemed to have gotten over his inital shock and reached out and grasped her hand in his and started to talk. "Sorry about that, but I sort of was serious-" _I think._

"So hear me out, Shayera. I know that I'm not much to look at right now, and I don't have a real job and such, but I can change that easily. I would take care of you, protect you. I would even court you if you wanted. You're a good girl, smart, funny, kind, you deserve to have someone by your side. I honestly don't expect you to answer me now, so...sleep on it and take as much time as you like. I won't go anywhere." He said gently as he squeezed her small hand in his and stood up.

She sighed and reluctantly nodded her head and he grinned, picked up the tray and decided to pull a fast one on her as she closed her eyes, looking around as if he were nervous that some one might see him, he leaned over her and brushed his lips across hers, then straitened up and was across the room before her eyes opened and she could look at him.

"Something wrong?" He asked in a deceptively innocent tone. She stared at him in wide eyed shock as she put her fingers to her lips. Had he just kissed her?

She shook her head and he smiled happily and started whistling as he walked out of the room and down the stairs as she glared at his back. The man was a devil pure and simple. A nice, polite, well educated devil who had been sent to tempt her. If she were a truely violent person she might have knocked his teeth out for that little kiss.

Kakashi paused half way down the steps to look back at her bedroom door and grinned. _Got ya, honey._


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks passed and soon it had been a month since Kakashi had been saved by Shay. He had regained all of the weight he had lost while starving on the streets, pluse another seven pounds. His lean body no longer looked pale and sickly but healthy again. His body had packed on a considerable amount of muscel due to his little 'games' as Shay liked to call them. He had been testing himself to see if he could still do a lot of the things he had been able to do in the navy since he had been out of practice for a while.

Early every morning as a stealth excercise, he would sneak into Shay's bedroom. Mainly because she was'nt a heavy sleeper, nor did she sleep for very long when she went to bed. By his estimate she slept a grand total of three hours per night. Which was probably why he found her passed out around the house so often.

Then he would move or remove something from her room, (only temperarily) he always snuck back in and put it back.

Then he would go outside for a jog around the ranch, and then he would practice some of the martal arts he had learned before and after joining the navy.

Today he had gotten up out of bed at four in the morning because he had wanted to get some practice in before she woke up. He was in the back yard practicing tai chi when he heard the sound of a car coming up the drive way, and a lot of yelling going on and saw Shay's light auto matically switch on, and swore under his breath as he started to make his way to the front when he frowned; it had just occured ot him how early it was. No one should be heading up Shay's drive way at this hour, everyone should be home sleeping.

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Shay bolted upright in her bed as she heard the muffler of Uchiha Sauske's car, along with the yells of his friends, and felt herself start shaking. The last time he and his friends had paid her a visit, they had left her laying in a pool of her own blood from the beating that they had given her.

She jumped out of bed and quickly pulled on some clothes and grabbed her revolver and tucked it in the back waist band of her pants and pulled on a long flannel shirt over it before grabbing a switch blade. She may have let them get away with threatening her, but she would die before she let them hurt Kakashi.

She quickly made her way past his room and checked to see if he was still asleep and almost smiled as she saw him laying in his bed, out like a light, and ran down stairs and to the front door and opened it just as Sauske parked his car and he and his friends started to get out.

There were five of them in all, just like last time. Not good.

She stepped out onto the porch and growled as the young men all started heading for her. "Get off my land." She snarled, loudly enough for them to hear her. Sauske, the tall dark haired pretty boy in the middle gave her a malicous smile.

"Oh now Shay, you should'nt say that to your masters."

"You're not my masters, and you're not welcome here now get in your car and go before I decide to shoot the lot of you in the head-" She let her eys drift a little south to make her point clear and gave an equally malicous smile. "You know, your little head."

Sasuske narrowed his eyes at her. How dare she talk to him like that! She was nothing but gutter trash. His hand connected with her cheek a second later, the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed in the air around them as he then reached out and grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her head back.

"Don't ever talk to me like that again bitch."

Shay glared at the Uchiha as she tasted blood and spat on him, the pinkish red hit him on the cheek right under his left eye, and he looked absolutly murderous in that instant, but Shay didn't care. She just wanted them to leave. Sauske wiped the spit from his face and growled as he thrust her into the arms of one of his lackies. "Take her out back and show her a good time, boys."

Shay went completely rigid, they would'nt. They would'nt dare touch her like that. But then she realised that even if she went to the police once they were done, no one would do anything about it. They would all say that she deserved it, that she had even asked for it. Sasuske's buddies all grinned and she felt a lead wieght settle in her stomach making her feel ill. She stomped the foot of the guy holding her and shoved him hard enough to send him toppling over the porch railing and reached for the gun at the small of her back and leveled it at Sauske's head.

Sauske went completely still and so did his friends, good. The thought of shooting them was distateful to her, but she would do it if they forced her hand.

Kakashi stood at the side of the house a few feet away glareing at the boys, he didn't care who they were, or what they were doing here, all he knew was that they were going to hurt Shay. And he didn't like that. Not one little bit. He had been on his way to see who had come to visit so early when he had heard Shay growl, Get off my land. Instantly telling him almost all that he needed to know.

Whoever they were, Shay didn't like them. And after seeing the dark haired one hitting her he sort of understood why. But it was the raven's words, that had caused him to freeze, every instinct in his mind screaming for him to get out there and help her now before any really bad damage could be done. He took a second to decide the best approach and ran back to the back door and went inside, this way he could step out behind Shay and take the gun from her before she ended up with murder one charges.

Kakashi was just on the other side of the door when the raven lashed out in a lightning fast move and slapped the gun from her hands and grabbed her, putting her in a head lock and grinned at his buddies. "Looks like she has some spirit left, think you guys can break her?"

Shay elbowed him in the ribs, once, twice, the bastard lifted her off of the ground so that she was hanging by her neck, choking. Kakashi made an inhuman sound and threw the door open and punched the raven as he turned his head to see what had made such a chilling sound. His head snapping back on his spine as a strange man's fist connected with his face, right in the nose filling the early morning air with the sickening crack of his nose being broken.

Kakashi grabbed Shay as the guy dropped her and pulled her close to him as she wheezed and coughed. "Who the fuck are you?" A guy with inky black hair snarled. Kakashi looked down at Shay who had the most frightened look on her face.

Kakashi gave the guys a chilling smile. "I could ask you the same thing, but I don't carry conversations with dead men. Now listen up ad listen well, if ay of you want a bullet in the head,then please by all means stay were you are. But if you want to live, you'll all get in your buddy's car and get the hell off of the lady's land like she told you too."

"Why the fuck should we?"

"Because I really wll kill you if you don't." Kakashi said coldly as he ran his hands up and down Shay's back, the por girl was shaking like a leaf.


	8. Chapter 8

It was almost sad how quickly the car was loaded up and tearing down the drive way a second or so later. To be perfectly honest Kakashi had wanted them to stick around. He could have used a punching bag or two, or five as the case may be. He had suddenly become very obsessed with teaching the little worms manners the next time he got his hands on them. But for now he would have to content himself with taking care of Shay, who was still pressed against his body, still frightened, and shaking.

This must not have been the first time those guys had paid her a visit, and he was also starting to see why she didn't sleep long at night. It was due to the paranoia and fear that those bastards had instilled in her. But god love the girl; she hadn't backed down even though she must have been almost too scared to move or speak. He bent down a bit and picked her up and carried her inside the house and put her down on the couch and switched on the lamp beside the chair and checked her face.

She had a bit of a bruise forming on her cheek, something that pissed him off even more. His gentlemanly nature demanding that he hunt those brats down and beat them black, blue and bloody. "Shay, baby...you okay?" She looked like she was going into shock. Well, he couldn't have that now could he?

"Shayera. Look at me-" Her eyes flickered up towards his face and focused on his lips. They were moving, but she couldn't really hear what he was saying. She was so scared that her mind was shutting down, blocking out everything. Kakashi sighed and grabbed a blanket from the lounge chair across from the couch and wrapped it around her and framed her face with his hands, forcing her head back a bit and kissed her forehead.

She was so out of it that she didn't even react, she just sat there shaking. Her mind had settled somewhere close to hysteria. I hate it when girl's fall apart like this. He thought as he sat down and put his arms around her and pulled her against his side, using one of his hands to comb through her hair as he talked to her. About the way that things should be, and the way that they would be from now on.

Telling her that no one would ever get that close to her again. Giving his word. His solemn vow that he would protect her with his life.

He was'nt sure how long he sat like that, simply holding her and speaking in low tones, but he knew when she finally returned to herself. He could feel her body still shaking just the faintest bit, and she pressed her face against his shirt. He glanced at the clock and noted that it had been two in a half hours since he had brought her inside to take care of her. "Shay darlin, you okay now?"

"I think so." She said softly, her voice muffled by his chest, he smiled a bit and tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging gently so that she would look at him. He had some questions for her. And he needed her to answer them all so that he could understand her situation better.

"Why did those guys come here?"

"To hurt me."

"Yeah, I figured that much out. But why?"

"Because of what my family did way, way back in the day."

_Okay._ "What did they do, Shay?"

"I'm not completely sure, but it had something to do with fifty nine people being killed in their homes in one night." Kakashi cocked his head. _Serial killers? _

"Tell me." He insisted. Shay looked up at him, unsure of what to say.

"I don't know what started it. Or why it happened. I'm still in the dark about a lot of it. But apparently my great, great grandfather and grandmother, their five kids, and some of their other relitives, went crazy and killed a bunch of people. They kidnapped thirty others, mainly women and children and put them all in an underground bunker, and doused them in gasoline and set them all on fire before sealing the bunker closed with seventy seven pounds of cement. They made sure that they could still hear them screaming as they died."

"The towns people hunted them down and hung them for it, but four of them got away. Moved out of town and married and had kids. I guess I'm the granddaughter of one of them, I'm not sure."

Kakashi said nothing for a second or two. What could he say? Sorry your family went phyco and killed a bunch of innocent people. It felt wrong. He could'nt begin to imagine how Shay must have felt when she had first learned that she came from such a blood line. The poor thing must have felt cursed.

"So basically their holding you responsible for the shit that happened before you were even born."

Shay nodded her head. She didn't tell him that she was pretty sure that was why she had been abandoned in a trash can to die by her mother as a baby. She felt bad enough as it was.

"Tell me when the attacks started." Shay stiffened in his arms, she didn't want to talk about this. She didn't even want him involved. _Yeah like Sauske teme will let him go after he fucked up his face._ Dammit.

She didn't want to talk about when the attacks first started so he decided to take a different approach and find out how far the people of the town were willing to go to get rid of her. "You said once that you lived here with your grandpa. What happened to him?" Kakashi asked curiously. Shay looked away from him and bit her lower lip. A look of anxiousness crossing her pretty face.

"They did something to him, didn't they?" Kakashi said gently, Shay started to cry again and nodded her head. How could she tell him that because of her; her grandfather had died writhing in agony from an infected gun shot wound.


	9. Chapter 9

"What did they do to him Shay?" Kakashi asked a bit more sternly as he grasped her shoulders and gently shook her.

"They made me watch him die!" She screamed after a second or so, Kakashi stiffened and narrowed his eyes at her.

"How?"

"I was living here for a bout a year after the old man picked me up and brought me home with him. I was out in the barn playing with the wolf dog that he had. Someone from the town came driving up, and I went to greet them. Cause I was stupid and didn't know any better-" She had just been fourteen at the time. Young, innocent, and just nieve enough to think that there was good in everyone.

Kakashi stayed quiet as she continued to speak. He needed to know what he was getting himself into since he still planned to marry her.

"I didn't know his name, but he seemed so friendly. He kept asking me questions about why I was here with grandpa. Was the man around? Was I home alone? Something about the questions started to make me nervous. I told him I was going to go get my grandpa when he pulled out an old revolver and grabbed me and said that I was'nt going anywhere until we played a little game, and dragged me back into the barn. Grandpa....had seen what was happeneing from the kitchen window and grabbed his shot gun and came running out to save me...."

"He startled the guy who had me, the guy shot him knocked me out then wrapped my fingers around the gun so that if I called the police they would think that I did it, and then he ran off."

Shay stopped speaking for a second and took several deep shuttering breaths, trying to collect her thoughts and steady her nerves at the same time. Kakashi took her small hand in his and squeezed. He knew that this must be very painful for her, but he needed her to continue.

"Grandpa, was a strong guy. Mean as a rattle snake, when he wanted to be. And that gun shot didn't kill him. But he did loose a lot of blood, and he was suffering from internal injuries. I called the local hospital, and the police, I tried to get someone to come and help him; but the second I told them what my name was, and where I lived....that was it. They refused to help. Any chance of my grandpa surviving, slowly slipped away. His wound got infected three days after he was shot, and I was forced to watch him die."

"I could'nt even give him a proper burial, Kakashi. I had to build a coffin for him and dig his grave myself." She sobbed as Kakashi got the most peculiar look on his face and leaned forward in his seat and she flinched, thinking that now that he knew about all of those things he would abandon her too. He put his hands on her hips and lifted her up and settled her on his lap and waited until she looked at him before he kissed her.

His arms tightening around her to the point of pain before losening again. His mouth stealing her breath as his tongue slid inside of the moist cavern, his fingers tangling in her silken hair before he pulled back and nipped at her bottom lip. He sighed and kissed her forehead and muttered. "Stupid girl." And picked her up as he stood.

"What are you doing Kakashi?" Shay asked with a note of alarm coloring her tone. He ignored the paniced sound and carried her to his room and laid her down on his bed.

"You have'nt been sleeping, Shay darlin. And I don't like it when you look so pale and sickly. It's just not good for our relationship."

Shay gave him an odd look. Relationship? Was he still on about marrying her? He pulled the covers up over her shoulders and kissed her lips one more time. "I want you to forget what happened earlier and try and get some sleep. I'll stay around the house so that you can feel safe and rest-"

She started to open her mouth to say something but he put his finger tips against her lips and growled. "Shut your mouth Shay darlin and get some sleep. I'm going to make a phone call to a few friends of mine and see if they would mind taking a vacation and coming down." He smiled at her and smoothed her hair back from her face.

He was'nt going to tell her that he intended to set people strait about messing with his future wife.


	10. Chapter 10

Kakashi left the room shortly after Shay had finally dozed off, since she had been almost frantic to keep him in the room with her, he had laid down next to her and held her until she fell asleep. He padded through the house, going from room to room checking the windows and doors just in case, then located some of her guns and the small arsenal of bullets and such that she kept hidden, and took on out along with a small box of shells and went to the kitchen and grabbed the cordless phone and then moved his little party to the living room and sat down in the rocking chair by the living room window and dialed Iruka's number.

He held the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he checked the gun then loaded it.

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Iruka's cell was ringing like crazy causing the brunette to pause in his bed play and look over at the damn thing like he would like nothing better than to smash it to pieces. Whoever was calling him was going to get an earful if he didn't get to finish fucking his latest toy.

He rocked his hips, getting the stunning creature under him to moan beautifully and arch her back. He grinned as his voice mail switched on and he heard the lazy drone of a voice he thought he would never hear again.

"Maa Iruka, she must be one hell of whore for you to ignore your calls." Iruka stiffened and looked over at the phone in shock. _Admiral Hatake.... _He rolled off of the woman and grabbed the phone and pressed the green button and was about to answer when the line went dead. Iruka checked the numbers and grinned when he saw that the number Kakashi had called from had an Mississippi area code.

_"Fuck me."_ So that's where the son of a bitch had been all this time. He ran across the room and opened the door and screamed.

"Hatake is alive!" All down the hall way doors opened and people started to come out of their rooms.

"What?!" Kankuro and his younger brother both came barreling out of the room closest to his own and grabbed Iruka, completely disreguarding the fact that he was totally naked. Iruka grinned at the twenty five year old and his brother and played the voice mail back for them and saw the look that passed between the two before they grinned. "Go pack your things!" Iruka said as he ran back into his room and started pulling his clothes on and grabbed a bag from under the bed and started tossing shit in it.

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Tsunade was sitting in her office in Texas looking over records, when she got a phone call and picked up. "Hello." She said in a tired, slightly bored tone.

Amused laughted sounded on the other end of the line making her sit up straiter in her seat. "Hello Tsunade." _Kakashi..._

She straitened up in her seat, suddenly wide awake and feeling less bored than she had a few seconds ago. "Kakashi, oh my god...where are you? Are you okay? Are you doing well? Where are you?!" Tsunade snapped irritation lacing her tone. She had'nt heard from the man since he had been let out of the nbavy and lost his home while the government siezed all his assets and left him with nothing.

"I'm in a town called Kanoha. I'm good, really I am. Much better than I was a few years ago." Kakashi drawled in his usual lazy tone.

"Your somewhere safe?"

"Yeah. I even found me a nice girl to settle down with..."

Tsunade grinned and asked several questions as she freed up her computer and typed in "Location Kanoha' and started to busy herself nosing around before getting directions and smirked. "Tsunade, I need your help-"

"Nuff said, I'll be there in three days." Tsunade said as she hung up the phone before he could say anything about her, in an effort to leave his three ex's there in Texas.

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Iruka called Genma, who called Anko, who called Kiba and Shino then Hinata, and Sakura and Neji and Lee.

And by the time everyone had been informed at least thirty something people were already buying plane and bus tickets, while others were driving to the little town where their good friend had called from. They would'nt lose him this time.


	11. Chapter 11

Iruka's car pulled up to a diner somewhere to the east of Kanoha's main street and he climbed out. Unfolding his tall lean muscled frame as he pulled a map out of his back pocket and waited for the complaints he knew he would hear in a second from Kankuro and Gaara, both of whom had fallen into a peculiar silence as he had drove them over three thousand miles to find their former comrade in arms.

He had been standing there for about a minute and a half when three more vehicles pulled up on the opposite side of the road. Behind the wheel of one was Tsunade and the white haired guy she had wrapped around her little finger, Jiraiya.

Behind the wheel of another he could see Anko, Ino, and Sakura; all three of Kakashi's ex's. Why could'nt the woman have been kind to the poor man and left them _all_ in Texas? Iruka thought irritably as everyone got out of their cars and started streaching.

Tsunade waved at him as soon as she spotted him, and he sighed and waved back. Silently wondering what the pushy, bully of a woman was doing way out here. It was stupid to wonder, he knew that, but could'nt help praying that she was here for an entirely different reason. "Iruka Umino, well I'll be. I have'nt seen you in forever. How you been?" The busty woman asked with a freindly smile, that reminded Iruka of a shark about to swallow him whole.

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Kakashi walked up the stairs to check on Shay. She had been asleep for the past hour or so, trying to recharge her bateries after fighting the small barn fire that he was starting to think was anything but an accident due to the empty cans strewn around the barn.

He would bet anything that someone from the town had set fire to the barn just to frighten Shay. And it had worked like a bloody charm. She had nearly been hysterical after they had put the fire out and checked on the horses.

He pushed open the door to her room and saw her laying on her bed on top of the covers, her skirt bunched up around her hips, and her shirt hiked up a bit to show her stomach. He bit back a grin and shook his head. He had never seen anyone with such bad sleeping habits before in his whole life. _I'm going to have to break her of this habit once we're together._ He thought as he walked silently across the room and reached out and tugged her skirt and shirt hem's down, back into place.

Her fingers twitched and she moaned in her sleep and rolled over onto her back and sighed his name before curling up and burying her face against the blanket. He reached out and brushed her hair back from her face and leaned over and kissed her before leaving the room again.

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The group all sat down inside the diner to eat something and catch up, each table sitting four to five people.

Iruka sat with Tsunade, Jiraiya, Gaara, and Sakura. "So...what brings you two to this part of the country?" Iruka asked Jiraiya and Tsunade curiously, while still holding out hope that they were'nt really there for Kakashi.

"Well we came for some of the same reasons that your here for. We came to see Kakashi, and our old adoptive father lives just outside of town. We have'nt heard from him in a while and thought that we would drop in and visit him while we're out this way. Besides, I have something that I'm sure Kakashi would like to have back." Tsunade said as she pulled something out of her jacket pocket, a small red velvet box that she flipped open to reviel two white gold and diamond bands.

One with a lovely deep blue sapphire in the middle of the diamond cluster. Iruka's eyes widened in suprise.

"Those are his parent's wedding bands!" Iruka said almost accusingly. He had thought that the damn things had been auctioned off! Tsunade smirked at him. She was'nt about to tell the man that she had bought the rings off of some guy after they had been auctioned off, when the government had mistakenly thought that Kakashi was dead.

The mistake had been fixed in the past three years, meaning that the man could now return home and restart his life if he wanted too. But for some reason that Tsunade could'nt figure out she didn't think that would be the case.

Kakashi had said that he had met a girl to settle down with, and frankly she was more than a little curious about the girl that Kakashi had chosen to stay with. "She got them from some guy at the auction-" Jiraiya said with a grin. Iruka looked at him like he was deranged and then looked away.

The waitress walked up and looked at them, a preditory smile curving her lips. "Well hello boys. Where you hotties been all my life?"

"We're gay." Gaara said as he leaned his head onto Iruka's shoulder. The woman gave them an odd look and shook her head as she took their orders. She was about to walk away when Tsunade pulled a picture of Kakashi in his navy uniform and asked the woman if she had seen him, and if she knew where he was staying. The woman looked at the picture and paled and practically ran away from their table.

_What the hell was that about?_ Iruka wondered as someone came out of the kitchen and spoke to the waitress and looked at them, a dirty look on the big man's face. There was something strange going on, and for the thousandth time in so many days Iruka started to wonder just what Kakashi had gotten himself into.


	12. Chapter 12

Kakashi knocked on the door to Shay's room, wondering just what she was doing in there. He heard a soft thud followed by a muffled curse and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. It had been almost an hour since she had woken up and come down stairs to fix dinner. Almost an hour since he had taken her hand and pulled her inot his arms and held her before asking her out on a date.

Not a picnic outside. Not fishing. But an honest to god date. Dinner somewhere else, and maybe a movie or some light shopping. He didn't really care as long as Shayera was happy with the end results. "Shay darlin, what are you doing in there?" Kakashi asked teasingly as he listened to her run around her room.

"Ah, nothing." He cocked his head and thought darkly. _She's going to try and slip out the window_. Did the thought of going on a date with him really bother her that much? He wondered as he sighed and pushed away from the wall and walked down the stairs and out the front door and caught her when she tried to run past him. Snaking an arm around her waist he lifted her up off of her feet and spun on his heel and carried her back inside the house and up the stairs to her room and dropped her onto her bed and stood there with a bored look on his face as he stared at her.

"Kakashi!"

"Shay honey, if your feeling so keen on staying in then why didn't you just say so. I would be more than happy to indulge you." Kakashi said in a menacing tone as he reached for her as she tried to back away from him, and wrapped his fingers around her ankles and dragged her back to his side of the bed and leaned down, placing one hand on the bed beside her head and the other next to her hips.

"First lets get you out of these clothes-" He said with a cold smile. His blood boiling because she had tried to run from him.

"Kakashi!"

"Then I'll give you a nice rub-"

"Kakashi!"

"And then I'll fuck you so hard that you won't even dream of trying to run away from me because you are'nt going to be leaving your bed unless I'm too exhausted and spent to stop you." Kakashi growled as he grasped the hem of her shirt and quickly yanked it up over her head. Shay made a squeeking sound and started sputtering. Stuck someplace between outrage and embaressment.

"K-Kakashi..." She said his name weakly as he placed his hand over her heart and pushed her down onto her back and quickly straddled her hips.

"Quiet Shay, there are better ways to use your tongue." Kakashi snapped as she opened her mouth to tell him to stop but he growled again and yanked her upper body up off of the matress and crushed her mouth under his own in a punishing kiss.

She whimpered as he broke the kiss and unfastened her bra and pulled it from her body and tossed it over his shoulder and filled his hands with her breasts, rolling and pinching the nipples in between his fingers until they ached. He ran his tongue along the shell of her ear, making her gasp, and almost laughed when she pushed against his chest with her small hands. He grabbed her hands and kissed her again.

His tongue dueling with hers for control of the kiss. She bit his lower lip, catching it between her sharp little teeth, drawing blood. He pulled back to look at her with an 'oh' look on his face before he grinned. He had never thought that she was the sort to like things a little rough. "Shay darlin, do you want to keep going?"

"Yeah, I think so."

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"Excuse me, but are you strangers asking about the guy living on the ranch outside of town?" One of the kitchen guys asked as he stopped in front of their table.

Iruka and the others all looked at him curiously. Reaching out Iruka took the picture of Kakashi from Tsunade and held it up for the man to see. He didn't miss the preditory look that crossed the man's face. Niether did any of the others. "This the man your talking about?"

The kitchen guy nodded his head. This could be the chance that the people of the town had been waiting for, he could lie to them and tell them that the monster girl had taken their friend, got him hooked on drugs and shit and they could kill her for them.

"Yeah, thats him. He was picked up by the town slut and taken home-"

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Kakashi lay on his back under Shay blinking, how the hell had he gotten on his back anyways? He looked up at Shay who had the most devious look on her face. Well, that answered that question, but it raised a new one. Now that she had him right where she wanted him, what was she going to do with him?

"You look stunned." She said in a breathless tone followed by a soft laugh as she wrapped her fingers around his throat and rubbed her core against him through his pants, letting the liquid that had pooled between her legs soak through his jeans.

He made a hissing sound and bucked his hips. "W-Would'nt you be stunned if some little slip of a gal tossed you around like a rag doll?"

She made a 'hn' sound. "Maybe. Now how badly do you want it?"

He grinned and flipped her so that she was pinned under him again, causing her to gasp as he pressed his body more firmly against her own and grinned again. "How badly do you want it?" He parroted back as he ground himself against her. She moaned and arched her back, pressing her breasts against his rough blue and black flannel shirt.

"That badly huh?" He asked a little weakly, as he ripped his shirt off and tossed it across the room and stood to shuck his pants, he was'nt sure he could take anymore teasing.


	13. Chapter 13

The kitchen guy walked away from their table with a big grin on his face and made the mistake of giving the waitress a thumbs up sign before going back to the kitchen again, Tsunade narrowed her eyes and made a low growling sound. "That man was lying to us."

"About Kakashi being hooked on drugs, yeah. Kakashi has never used, and he's too smart for some ball of fluff to trick him into shit like that."

"That's not exactly what I meant, but yes you have a point." Tsunade said as she looked at Iruka as he took a sip of his iced tea.

"I agree. I saw that preditory look on the guys face before he started telling us shit, it would seem that the gal that Kakashi has shaked up with is'nt very well liked." Sakura said as she played with the straw in her glass.

"I think your right, I think that guy was trying to manipulate us into hurting Kakashi's new friend." Gaara said with a mean look as the waitress walked up and put their bill on the table, letting them see the words sprawled on the back of their bill,

**Death to the monster.**

"Well. I'd say that this is a dead give away to their intintions towards Kakashi's gal pal." Anko said as she stood up and picked up the bill. Tsunade growled, the stupid town folk knew that they were out of towners and had already planning to put them to use in doing their dirty work. Killing someone who had helped their friend.

They were also probably planning to turn the whole lot of them in for the murder too. _Assholes._ Tsunade thought darkly as she stood up along with everyone else. She suddenly didn't feel like sticking around to look for a hotel. She wanted to see Kakashi and see if he was aware of the town's feelings toward his little friend.

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Shay lay pinned under Kakashi, his hands gripping her hips almost painfully as he lifted her up again and drove himself inside of her. She gasped at the wonderfully shocking sensations and felt her toes curl as he flexed his hips again, pushing himself deeper. She cried out and fisted her fingers in the sheets as he leaned his face closer to hers and licked the tears away from her face and laced both of his hands with her own. His breath fanning her face as she opened her eyes to look at him, he pressed his lips against hers in an achingly tender kiss as he rocked again.

Swallowing her cry of pleasure. He nipped at her lower lip, her chin, and scraped his teeth along her jugular vein before latching onto the skin and sucking. She cried out and archd her back up off of the bed, rubbing her aching beasts against his chest. He made a low sound in the back of his thoat as he rocked his hips harder, faster. Pushing as far into her slick heat as either of their bodies would allow. She gasped and arched under him, making a soft throaty sound that died down to a whimper as he kissed her again.

Slanting his mouth over her own as their tongues tangled together, they clung to each other as they both came.

(O)

Kakashi lay on his side, his arms wraped around Shay's trembling body, running his hands over the soft skin of her back, making her twitch and bury her face against his chest as she tried to block out the pleasent sensations as he ran his finger tips along her spine and stopped after a second or so. He was putting off his talk with her, and after what had just happened a short while ago between them, he needed to get her to agree to marry him.

He simply was'nt the sort to deflower a woman then walk away, but then again he had never really deflwered a woman before Shay. "Shay darlin, we need to have a talk..." He said in his usual lazy tone. She shifted and looked at him, resting her upper body weight on her elbows, her soft tousled hair slipping over her shoulders making his body harden again at the sight. She was the most beautiful little thing he had ever seen.

"What is it?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him, her heart still thudding frantically in her chest. It was odd how he could cause her heart to speed up wth just look.

"I...I still want to marry you, and after what we just did..."

"Kakashi, you don't have to marry me just because we-" What was she supposed to say? Had sex? Made love? Fucked? She cringed, she didn't want to reduce what had happened to something so dirty sounding.

He looked at her with a strange expression on his face as she continued to speak. "I don't want to marry someone because they feel obligated to put a ring on my finger. I want to marry for love, is that so hard to understand?"

Kakashi smiled, that was'nt hard to understand at all. But it made him wonder if she was even aware of her feelings for him. Shay had been an untouched virgin before today, meaning that she would'nt have slept with him if she had'nt been in love with him, it just was'nt in her nature.

He chuckled and tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her off ballance and kissed her. Her response to the soft pressure of his lips was instant, he moved closer to him and opened he mouth to let him slip his tongue inside, a soft moan escaping her as he pulled back and looked at her as she opened her violet eyes and stared at him. He grinned at her. "I'm marrying you because I love you Shay, not because I feel obligated too. And I know that deep down inside you love me too."

She opend her mouth to deny it, but nothing came out aside from a soft choking sound as he shifted and grasped her shouders and pushed her over onto her back and pulled the blanket away from her body and slipped his fingers between her legs and brought them up to his face stained red with her blood. "Look Shay darlin-"

He held his hand to for her to see. She blinked and stared at his finger tips and wondered where he was going with this. "You are'nt the type of girl to jump into bed with someone that you know just a little. The only reason a gal like you would sleep with someone is if you loved him. Do you understand?"

She hesitated for a moment then nodded her head and he grinned. "Good, now say the words." He was just a bit too sure of things was'nt he? She thought numbly as she went over what he said in her mind. It was true, what he said about her 'nature'. Her late gradfather had raised her to only sleep with the one that she had intended to spend he life with. He had often muttered something along of the lines of 'I'm raising you to respect yourself and not sell yourself short, you deserve to find a man that will take care of you the same way that you would care for him'.

She blinked again as she aked herself seriously, 'Can I really look him in the eyes ad say that I honestly don't love him?'

She looked at him and noticed that he had'nt moved, he was still there waiting for her to say something and she realised that, no she could'nt say that she didn't love him. Because she did. She loved everyting about him, and she would be damn lucky to have him.

_Bloody hell! When had that happened?_


	14. Chapter 14

Shay stuttered a little bit, her face pink. Kakashi stared at her for a second then shook her a little bit. "Say the words Shay darlin." He said gently as she sputtered and seemed to be struggling with herself to say the words he wanted to hear.

Finally after a second or so he let her go. He hadn't realised that she would have so much trouble wrapping her head around the concept. And as he thought about it a little more, she was probably afraid to say the words to him. After all she had been living in a situation where romance and love simply had no place. She was probably scared that the towns people might find out about their relationship somehow and use it to hurt her.

He sighed. Damn, why hadn't he thought of that before he had opened his mouth? Now she would be wanting to tell him, but too freaked out to try. He had to make this easier for her. He thought for a minute and remembered something that his mom had used to do back before she had died, when it had become painful to speak.

He framed her face in his hands and gave her a quick kiss. "Wait right here. I'll make this easier for you." He said as he climbed off of the bed and left the room for a second and came back in a moment later with a red magic marker and grasped her hand and drew a little red heart in the middle of her palm then lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the spot over the heart then let her go and handed her the marker.

Shay looked at the marker then at her hand with a stunned expression on her face.

Was this his way of telling her that he loved her without saying the words? It's sort of what it looked like.

She started to reach out, to take his hand as he sat down on the corner of the bed but he beat her to it and lifted his hand a little bit and held it out to her and smiled, hoping to encourage her. She drew a little red heart on his palm, wondering if this was really okay. After all, once the towns people found out that she was in love they would use any means necessary to tear the two of them apart.

And she didn't want to end up watching another man that she loved die.

Kakashi stared at the little heart she had drawn on his hand and smiled. The edges were a little rough, and the lines and curves were a little off, but that was only because her hand had been shaking. He reached out and hauled her up and against him, needing to assure her that everything would be okay. That he would find a way to make it all work. Neither of them moved or spoke for several minutes, they just sat there wrapped in each others arms, neither of them wanting to ruin this one moment because it was as close to perfect as it was going to get for a while.

Finally Kakashi started to unwrap his arms from around her and kissed the top of her head. "I think we better get dressed." He had promised her a date and by god she was going to get it. No one was going to accuse him of not knowing how to treat his future wife like a lady.

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"This road looks familiar." Tsunade said as she looked around at the trees. Jiraiya looked over at her and grinned.

"It should-" Since they were heading to old man Sarutobi's ranch. Jiraiya smiled a little bit. It was starting to look like Kakashi's little gal pal was one of the old man's new kids. The thought of meeting someone else that the old man had taken in and raised was thrilling to him.

It was like coming home from school one day and learning that you were going to have a little brother or sister. It was exciting.

Tsunade looked a round a little more and saw a tree with their initials carved into the bark and let out a shriek as she reached across the seat and grabbed his leg and squeezed. "That was- This is- Oh my god Raiya- We're almost-"

"Home. Yeah, and I for one can't wait to sit down and talk with the old man over some of his famous Scotch."

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Kakashi backed Shay against the fridge with a predatory look on his face. The food was done cooking and everything was set for a nice (hastily put together) candle light dinner. Except for one small thing. He wasn't hungry for food. He was hungry for Shay.

"Kakashi what are you doing?" Shay asked as she stared at him through wide violet eyes. He licked his lips and leered at her as he placed one hand beside her hips and the other beside her head and moved in close.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like your about to eat me alive." Shay said in an almost breathless tone as he leaned in and ran his lips along the side of her neck to her shoulder, the soft subtle contact making her twitch and shiver. Kakashi made a small humming sound and ran the tip of his tongue along the shell of her ear making her gasp as she put her hands against his chest, her fingers gripping the fabric over his heart.

He nipped at her ear lob then used his hand to turn her head so that he could kiss her. She was right. He could eat her alive.

She was just so damn sweet and soft and tempting that it was all that he could think of. She made a soft sound in the back of her throat and opened her mouth for him so that he could deepen the kiss as he pressed himself against her. He pulled back a little bit and was about to slip one of his hands under her shirt when he heard the sound of a car coming up the drive and growled low in his throat and moved away from her.

"Kakashi what is it?" Shay asked as he all but stomped over to the closet a few feet away and pulled out one of the guns that he had put there, just in case some of the town folk decided to come up for an uninvited visit again, and cocked the weapon and placed the long dark barrel against his shoulder and reach for the door knob as the car came to a stop. He could detect at least two people in the vehicle and knew that it would be easy to deal with them.

He was about to step out when he heard the rumbling of more motors and froze, every muscle in his body tensing as he saw several other cars making their way up the drive.

Holy shit. They were being invaded!

"Shay, go upstairs and hide." He didn't like the fact that there was six or more cars pulling up outside and knew that if the worst happened, he wouldn't be able to protect her. So hiding her was the most logical way to go.

Shay looked as if she wanted to argue with him but one look from him stopped her cold. She'd never seen such a cold and murderous look on his face before. It was frightening, even though she knew that it wasn't aimed at her, it still made her heart clench in her chest and her blood turn to ice in her veins. "Go hide, darlin. I'll come and get you once it's safe." He said in a soft tone as he looked back out the window as the car doors opened.

Shay didn't say another word, she took off running out of the room and he waited until her bedroom door slammed closed before taking a deep breath and opening the door and slipping out to meet their unwelcome visitors.


	15. Chapter 15

Shay paced around her bedroom in a panic.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. _This couldn't be happening_. She walked over to ther window and peeked out and made a soft sound of distress. Oh god they were going to kill Kakashi and it was _all_ her fault for bringing him here and trying to help him when she couldn't even help herself.

She watched as some of the people got out fo the cars and waited to see what kind of weapons they were carrying. So far she couldn't see any guns, knives or torches, but that didn't mean that they weren't there, hidden some where. She saw the top of Kakashi's silver head as he made his way out to greet their visitors and almost broke down crying when he froze just a few feet from the gathering group and dropped the gun as several people ran forward and grabbed him.

Shay slapped her hands over her mouth and shook her head. No.

No! She couldn't let this happen!

She couldn't let them hurt Kakashi!

Turning around she ran over to her dresser and pulled out the third drawer and grabbed the small hand gun that she kept hidden there along with a medium container of bullets and a large military style bowie knife. She grabbed her gun and quickly checked it to make sure it was loaded and headed for the door dead set on rescuing Kakashi.

(***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Kakashi laughed as he hugged Iruka then Kankuro and Gaara. He couldn't believe that they had come so quickly, it had been ages since he had seen his friends.

"Oh my god Kakashi, you're alive!" Kankuro said as he thumped the taller man on the back.

"You look a lot better than we thought you would." Iruka said with a grin.

"What have you been up too man?" Jiraiya asked as he came forward to shake Kakashi's hand then stepped back to allow Tsunade through.

She gave him a small smile, happy to see that he was well. "We thought you were dead." She said as she moved forward to hug him. Kakashi wrapped his arms around his adoptive mother and squeezed her as much as he dared as she kissed his cheek and ran her finger through his silver hair.

"I would have been dead if I hadn't been brought here." He said as he reluctantly let her go as several others walked up and he groaned. Oh god. No. Not them. Not his ex's.

"Hows it hanging baby?" Anko said as she walked up to him and pressed herself against him and planted a kiss on his lips. Kakashi stiffened and reached up and grasped her shoulders and pushed her away from him, breaking the unwanted contact then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glared at the woman.

"Don't do that again." He growled in an irritated tone. Anko's eye brows almost disappeared under her bangs.

"So it's true that you've got your self a new girl." Sakura said as she came walking up. Her tone amused.

There was no way that Kakashi would stay with the woman he was with now. He simply couldn't be satisfied by one person, not for very long anyways. He had to have variety and free reign to be as gentle or rough as he felt he needed to be, whenever the mood struck him.

She doubted that his new fuck toy knew that about him. So she doubted that their relationship would last long. Kakashi gave her an icy _do-not-fuck-with-me_ stare. "My love life is not _any_of your damn business little girl." He snapped at her as he heard the faint sound of the kitchen door opening and turned around a little bit to see Shay step out on the porch and started to smile and wave to her when he caught sight of the gun in her hand.

"Oh shit." He breathed as he turned around and took off running across the yard towards her as she raised the gun and was about to pull the trigger.

He snagged her wrist and yanked her arm back and squeezed her wrist so that she dropped the weapon and then kicked it several feet away and grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "What the hell are you doing?" Hadn't he told her to hide? Why was she out here? And with a gun no less? Had her fear of the towns people finally driven her crazy?

"I-I thought t-they were going to h-hurt you-" Shay explained after a second or so, her face pale, her expression stricken. Kakashi started to ask her why she would think that but decided that it was best if he didn't ask and just wrapped his arms around her instead.

"Kakashi?" Tsunade called from several feet away, her tone worried. He looked back at his friends and cringed a little bit when he saw that they were all hiding behind car doors and trees.

_Damn._ This wasn't how he had wanted them to meet Shay.

"It's okay guys. She thought you were someone else." He called out and watched them all slowly come out from their hiding places, their expressions grim and unamused.

"Does your little friend usually wave a gun at people she doesn't know?" Anko hissed at him. Kakashi gave her a dark look, effectively shutting her up.

"No, but things have been really rough on her lately and she worries that someone is going to come here and hurt us." Kakashi explained. Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a look with Iruka and Gaara and Kankuro.

"Whatever. You can tell us about it inside."


	16. Chapter 16

Tsunade leaned in close to Jiraiya and whispered. "This is old man Sarutobi's place right?"

Jiraiya nodded his head as they followed Kakashi and the pretty little thing in his arms inside. Yes, this was the ranch where he and Tsunade had grown up. Those days were still very fresh in his mind so he would recognise the ranch no matter what. But he found it just a little bit puzzling that the old man hadn't come out of the house to see what was going on or who was there. Usually he was the first person outside. "Do you think that maybe he got sick and-"

Jiraiya detected the fear in Tsunade's voice and grasped her hand. "No. It would take something else to keep him down."

"Do you think maybe that girl did something?"

Jiraiya looked at the girl against Kakashi's side and frowned for a second. He didn't detect any ill will from her. Hell even when she had had the gun earlier, he hadn't detected any ill will from her. But then she hadn't really been aiming the weapon at anyone, she had been aiming _over_ their heads and _away_ from them.

It had been a bluff of sorts.

"No. I don't think that girl did anything to the old man." Especially if she was the new kid that the old man had taken in.

Sarutobi had always been picky about who he took in to raise. He didn't like _liars_. He didn't abide by _thieves_. And he wouldn't put himself through the stress of trying to help someone with behavioral problems.

So chances were pretty good that the girl Kakashi had shacked up with, was their new adopted sister and if so she probably knew what had happened to the old man. "We'll listen to Kakashi's explanation and find out something later on." He said in hushed tones as they all filed into the kitchen.

Shay counted each person that came through the door and frowned.

Jesus, how was she going to find chairs for all of these people? She thought for a second then recalled the folding chairs that her grandpa usually put aside for visitors and started to leave the room when someone grabbed her wrist and stopped her. She turned her head and saw Kakashi staring at her with a questioning look. She pointed out the door to the hallway and said, "Spare chairs."

He reached out and pulled one of the wooden chairs back from the tabe and dragged her over to it and muttered. "Park it." She opened her mouth to argue. But it was rude to make guests stand!

He pointed to the seat and gave her an you-will-obey-me look and she thinned her lips a little and sat down and folded her arms over her breasts and glared at him for a second, silently vowing revenge on him and he grinned and pushed her seat in, startling her a little bit if the look on her face was any indication. Once that was done he moved around the table and pulled out a chair for the women and waited until they were all seated before turning his attention to the others.

"Sorry about the lack of chairs-"

"Not a problem Kashi. We're men, we can stand." Gaara said in his quiet raspy voice as he took up a spot next to his older brother and leaned back against the wall.

"All right Kakashi. You said before that you needed help with something-" Anko said as she propped herself up on the table and stared at the pretty little thing across the way. Her long strawberry blond hair had a tousled look to it that only came from spending time in Kakashi's bed, her lips were a pale rose pink color, her facial features were angelically beautiful, her skin soft and smooth and a pale ivory color, her eyes were a wide deep violet color framed by dark sooty lashes.

And her body...

Anko didn't have to see much of it to know that the girl had a body that rivaled Tsunade's. The only difference was that Tsunade's body had been surgically enhanced where as the young woman across from her had never had surgery to enhance herself, she was sure of it.

She was also sure that she was going to hate her since she was now a rival for Kakashi's affections.

Kakashi moved to stand behind Shay and put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed slightly. "Everyone, this is Shayera Namikaze-" Everyone in the room all looked shocked for a second before glancing at Shay and seemed to be trying to see the resemblance between her and the man who had bore the Namikaze name. "She's the one who saved me and brought me back here to live. She used to live here with her grandpa-"

Tsunade and Jiriaya both tensed at Kakashi's use of words. Used too? As in past tense?

"I say used too because some of the town folk came up here and tried to hurt her and shot him in the process. From what I understood of things, Shay tried to get him help and was forced to slowly watch him die."

Both Tsunade and Jiriaya looked stricken for a moment then put on their poker faces and listened to the rest of what Kakashi had to say. All the while wondering where their adopted father was.

"And since I have come to live here there have been several attempts on her life as well. In this week alone there have been one fire and one direct attack on her where a group of kids from the town came here and decided to try raping her just for fun. I asked you here because I can't stop them on my own. And I need your help because I plan to stay here and settle down with Shay and raise a family. And I don't want her to have to live in fear anymore."

Iruka sighed. "I guess that explains why she came out earlier with a gun." He muttered. Beside him Gaara nodded his head and thinned his lips. It did explain a little bit.

When living in a very volatile situation you start to expect certain patterns of behavior. If the girl had been attacked like Kakashi said she had, then it made sense that she would had come out with a gun. She expected everyone who came up the drive way to be out for her blood, it was only a natural assumption.

Tsunade sighed and looked at the girl, she had her head bowed a little bit and seemed to be studying her hands in her lap. Dear god when Kakashi got into a mess, he _really _got into a mess. "Before we give our answer Kakashi, give us a little time to observe what happens around here and get to know your little friend."

Kakashi nodded his head. He had no problem with them taking a little time to make their choice or getting to know Shay. It was a very reasonable request. "Fair enough-" He said as he pulled out the chair beside Shay and dropped down in it and tried to lighten the mood a little bit and said. "So tell me what all of you have been up too all this time."


	17. Chapter 17

Shay felt a more than a little uncomfortable about being under such close scrutiny from so many people. It made her feel like she was an insect under a microscope. It was not a very pleasant feeling at all.

She fidgeted with her shirt sleeve, and tried to ignore the people that Kakashi was talking too, or more to the point, she was trying to ignore the looks that some of them kept giving her. She sat almost perfectly still for an hour before she couldn't take any more. She quietly pushed her chair back and excused herself and quickly left the room, missing the frown on Kakashi's face as he turned his head to look at her.

He started to get up to go after her but Sakura stopped him. "Let her go Kakashi. It's obvious that she is uncomfortable around us."

Kakashi looked back at the pinkette and sighed as he sat back down. "Of course she's uncomfortable around you. All of you have done nothing but _glare_ at her and make her feel as if she has no right to be here."

"I don't like her." Anko said matter of factly. Kakashi snorted. Anko had another thing coming if she thought that he gave a damn about what she liked or disliked.

"Green doesn't suite you Anko." Kakashi said coldly as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Anko gave him a mean look.

"What do you know about her Kakashi?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"I know that her mother left her in a trash can to die the night that she was born. I know that she used to live on the streets as a kid, up until her grandpa took her in. She was home schooled. She's never had any friends aside from her grandpa and lived her life pretty happily up until several years ago when her grandpa was killed. She's been living here alone, fighting against the towns people's attacks ever since then."

"It's not enough. How do you know she isn't lying to you?"

Kakashi gave Tsunade an amused look. "She can't lie worth a damn. She falls apart to easily."

Gaara put his hand up for a second, drawing Kakashi's attention to him. "I agree with Kakashi's assessment of miss Shay's character. Liars, and such have certain characteristics and nervous habits. They get shifty, they sweat, some of them will look you in the eye (especially the ones who lie professionally) while others will give themselves away instantly, some chew their finger nails and fidget-"

"She was fidgeting!"

"Of course she was. Like Kakashi said, we were all glaring at her. _Anyone _would fidget under such close scrutiny. Especially when she doesn't know us well enough to feel _comfortable _being looked at like that." Gaara snapped impatiently.

"I agree with Gaara-" Kankuro said a second later. Everyone looked at him and he sighed. "Gaara's right about the behavioral habits. Trouble makers, like stirring the pot. They just can't help themselves. Causing trouble excites them. That...little filly however is too quiet to be a troublemaker of any sort. She's shy around strangers, and tends to keep to herself to stay out of trouble. She's worried about saying or doing something that might offend. She genuinely _cares _about Kakashi-" Anko opened her mouth to speak and Kankuro growled at her.

"Shut your mouth and stop acting like such a bitch and listen-" Anko shut her mouth and thinned her lips and glared at him. "As I was saying. She genuinely cares about Kakashi. I know this because she sat here for an entire hour and let the lot of you act like she was a bug you'd like squash. And it's also obvious that Kakashi genuinely cares for her so if you all want to stay in Kakashi's good graces then you should try _harder_ to make nice."

"Thank you Kankuro. Gaara." Kakashi said softly. The two brothers smiled at him.

Sakura yawned and looked at Kakashi. "I'm tired. Do you know where we can bunk down?" Kakashi perked up a little bit.

"There are two spare bedrooms upstairs. Gaara and Kankuro can take one and Jiriaya and Tsunade can take the other. There is a little bunk house around the back of the barn that has enough room for the rest of you."

Anko crossed her arms over her breasts and glared. "I'm not sleeping in the bunk house."

"Well you're not sleeping with me! Either bunk in the bunk house or sleep outside." Kakashi growled at the woman. Anko opened her mouth to say something when Tsunade stood up and put her hand over Anko's mouth, shutting her up.

"The bunk house will work for them Kakashi..." Especially since she was sure that Genma, Kotetsu, Kiba, Shino, Lee, and Neji were on their way there too.

"Don't you think you should ask the lady of the house if it's okay for us to stay before you start assigning rooms." Iruka said. Kakashi flushed at his words and cringed. Oh shit, he'd forgotten for a moment that this was _Shay's_ home and she had a say in who came and went and stayed.

"Right. Be right back." He said as he jumped up and all but ran out of the room and up the stairs.

(*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Shay was laying curled up on her bed when she heard her bedroom door open and pushed herself upright and looked at...Kakashi. "I'm not going back down there." She said in an almost cold tone as she lay back down, this time facing away from him.

Kakashi didn't say anything as he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. She was upset. And while he sort of understood why, there was nothing really that he could do about it since the others were suspicious of her. Sure he could offer to break their legs if they made her cry or something, but that would only get him so far. "I won't ask you too." Not tonight at least. It would be cruel for him too ask her to go back down there and sit with him and the others when she was already feeling so raw.

She turned her head to look at him. He looked a little tense, and nervous. He wanted something...

_Crap. _

"What do you need Kakashi?" She asked tiredly as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm sorry that my friends are sort of-"

"Asses." Shay supplied cheerfully.

"Yeah...sorry about that..." He said as he got an uncomfortable look on his face. "But I uh, need to know if it would be-"

"I'm just going to go out on a limb and say yes. Now could you please get out." Shay said as she started to turn back away from him again when he made a growling sound and grabbed her shoulder and turned her over onto her back and growled at her.

"Could you can the attitude please. I called those people up here to help me keep you safe because I still intend to settle down and raise a family with you."

"I'm sorry Kakashi but I'm really not feeling that plan right now. And I know that you called them here to help but I really wish you hadn't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because now I have hostile people in my home! Not only that but you have single handedly dragged these people into a fight that isn't theirs. What if they get hurt? What if someone manages to get in a lucky shot? Do you honestly think that an ambulance will come here? They would rather see these people dead than lift a finger to help if they should wound them!" Shay cried. Kakashi got a stunned look on his face and all his irritation towards her earlier words drained away.

Is that why she had been so quiet all night? Because she had been worrying?


	18. Chapter 18

"You stupid girl. Do you really think I would involve people who didn't know a thing or ten about how to fight against staggering odds. Those people down stairs are the best of the best. They are intelligent, ruthless and vicious. Anyone stupid enough to try them will either end up in _traction_ or pushing up _daisy's_." Kakashi said as he leaned over Shay and brushed his lips over her own as she frowned at him.

"You do not have to worry about them Shay. Worrying about them isn't your job. Your job is to sit back, look nice, rest a little bit more than usual and let me take care of everything."

"That's...sweet, but unrealistic Kakashi. Because I have to do the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning. And with so many people here my water bill, grocery bill, and electric bill are going to go up considerably-" Shay was silenced by a toe curling kiss before she could finish explaining things to Kakashi.

He pulled back a second later and brushed his thumb across her lower lip and smiled at her. "You worry too much honey. I told you, I'll take care of everything. The cooking, the laundry, the bills, the cleaning. I just want you to be your usual charming self and try not to let them bother you too much. And if that means sleeping in late, and staying in your reading room and reading, or going out riding one of your horses or something then do it. Okay."

He was sure that he could handle all of these things since Tsunade had told him that his funds and credit cards had finally been taken off hold. Thanks to a series of good investments he had more than enough money to see to the barn repairs, to fix the roof, to buy Shay a nice engagement ring, and take care of everything else and still have money left over.

Shay didn't say anything more she just sighed and pushed him off of the bed then laughed as he hit the floor.

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Kakashi swore to come back to her room once everyone was settled then kissed her and left the room and went back down stairs. He walked back into the kitchen and gave his friends a thumbs up. "Shay said that it's okay." He said with a grin.

"Well it took you long enough to come back and tell us." Anko said with a pout and Kakashi felt the need to gnash his teeth. What had he ever seen in that damn woman anyways? It wasn't her personality since Anko had an overly obsessive, and catty personality. It wasn't her body either since she wasn't very curvy.

She was loud, rude, annoying, bitchy.

The total opposite of Shay who was quiet, graceful, shy, slightly klutzy, warm, sweet... Damn, now he had talked himself into wanting to go back upstairs and curling up beside Shay. "Alright people. Gaara, Kankuro, Tsunade and Jiriaya, all of you will follow me up to your rooms and then once I'm done showing you guy where you can sleep I"ll come back down and show the rest of you."

Tsunade started to tell Kakashi that she and Jiriaya could find the rooms themselves, but Jiriaya stopped her and helped her up out of her chair while they waited for Kankuro and Gaara to drag in everyone's luggage.

Ten minutes later the four were following Kakashi up the stairs and pausing behind him when he stopped outside of the room just a little ways down, and across from Shay's room. He opened the door and took a quick peek inside. The room was about as big and spacious as a hotel room, with two twin size beds, two dressers, and one small bathroom. The walls were a bright and cheery buttercup yellow with cream trim, cream curtains, and cream colored bed sheets.

"Gaara. Kankuro. Do either of you have anything against buttercup yellow and cream colored walls?"

The two brothers were quiet for a second. "Yellow and cream are two of our favorite colors." Gaara said as he brushed past Kakashi and walked into the room and then over to one of the beds and dropped his things down on it and looked back at his older brother expecatly. Kankuro rolled his eyes at his brother (dear god this was the girliest room he had ever seen, there was lace on the curtains. Lace!) and stepped through the door and made his way over to the other bed and set his stuff down on it.

"Thanks Kashi." The two said at once. Kakashi nodded his head slightly and closed the door and started walking again. He led Tsunade and Jiriaya to the room at the end of the hall and opened the door. Sky blue walls with white carpet, and furniture greeted him. Hn, maybe he should have given this room to the terrible two down the hall.

Tsunade stepped past him and went over to the bed and sat down. "This will be fine Kakashi. Thank you." Jiriaya said as he put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze as he walked past him.

Leaving Kakashi to go show the others where the bunk house was.


	19. Chapter 19

Shay was sound asleep in her bed with Kakashi snuggled up against her back, his arm slung around her slender waist when she heard a soft consistent banging coming from the room across from hers and woke up. Her mind going from sleepy to fully awake in an instant. She looked around the room for a second then grasped Kakashi's wrist and started to lift his arm up and stopped when his breathing pattern changed a bit.

"What's wrong Shay?" He asked in a sleep rough voice.

"I...need to go to the bathroom." She lied as she twisted her body so that she could look at him. Kakashi cracked an eye open and stared at her for a second as he picked up on the banging. What the hell were Gaara and Kankuro doing in that room? He wondered as he decided to let Shay up since she wanted to go investigate bad enough to lie. He closed his eye and rolled over and listened to the sound of her delicate feet moving across the floor and pausing briefly to grab her robe before she opened the door and peeked out.

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Gaara was more than a little disgruntled as he banged on the door to the bedroom where he and his older brother were supposed to share and growled in irritation as he tried the door knob again. He knew that it was still locked, but hope sprang eternal.

Just like his brother's bizarre need to jack off in the middle of the night.

Honestly when was Kankuro going to knock this sick shit off? They weren't even in their own home! They were in someone elses! One would think that Kankuro would at least be a bit put out by the fact that he wasn't anywhere near his usual comfort zone. But no.

Nothing seemed to stop his super freaky libido.

Gaara was of half a mind to suffocate his brother as soon as he passed out. The sick bastard.

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Shay looked at the young man's back and thinned her lips and silently debated on going to help him since it looked like he was locked out of the bedroom for some ungodly reason. She watched for a second longer before sighing and deciding to go help since it was probably the only way that she would be able to sleep undisturbed.

Slipping out of her room, she quietly closed the door behind her and tip toed over to the red head and reached out and grasped his mint green wife beater in between her fingers and tugged on it slightly. He stopped beating on the door and looked at her from over his shoulder with a slightly startled look on his face before he turned around and flattened his back against the door and flushed with embarrassment.

"Uh...I'm sorry for waking you but my brother locked me out..." He said lamely.

"Want me to pick the lock?" Shay asked curiously. He blinked at her and slowly nodded his head, not really knowing what else to do. Shay motioned for him to move and he quickly got out fo the way and watched her as she moved over to the door and stood on her tip toes and slipped her finger up under one of the screws holding the door up on it's hinges and worked the long nail like screw out and let it drop to the floor.

Gaara bent down and picked it up then looked at her as she worked the second and third ones out of place then tapped the door and stood back out of the way as it fell forward. Gaara dropped the screw in his hand and automatically put his hands over her eyes, just in case Kankuro was still jacking willy, and stared through the open door as his brother came walking out of the bathroom and stopped half way to the bed and stared at the fallen door wide eyed.

"Holy sh-"

"Shut your mouth! There is a lady present!" Gaara snapped at him as he glanced down at Shay for a second before removing his hands from her eyes and clearing his throat nervously as she turned her head to look at him.

"Sorry-" He said nervously before sticking his hand out. Everyone had been so busy visiting with Kakashi earlier that hardly anyone had introduced themselves to her. Shay looked at his hand and then took it. "My name is Gaara. And the guy over there with his jaw on the floor is my older brother Kankuro."

Shay gave him a shy smile and introduced herself then took her hand back and leaned down and collected the screws and handed them to him and said that they could put the door back up in the morning then said good night and walked back to her room.

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Shay wasn't able to go back to sleep.

Which was probably why she was so damn tired when the clock struck seven and it was time to start cooking breakfast. She sighed and got up out of her rocking chair and walked through the house and into the kitchen and started to heat up a pan as she pulled out a carton of eggs, a box of bacon, and a roll of sausage and then pulled out a glass bowel a whisk, a packet of shredded cheese and started cracking eggs when the first group of people came filing into her kitchen from outside.

She paused what she was doing for a second and turned her head to look at them. The pink haired young woman smiled at her and waved then sat down, while the burgondy haired woman glared at her. The man with the scar across the bridge of his nose gave her a blank look. "You look like you might be a little overwhelmed. Do you need help?" He asked after a second or so.

Shay shook her head and turned back to the food and started to work again, completely ignoring the people behind her.


	20. Chapter 20

Kakashi woke up in a semi state of irritation.

He had had trouble sleeping since Shay had gotten up. Mainly because he had missed her warm soft body, and how nice it was to snuggle up against it while he slept. So it was only natural that he would get up hours later, upset that his future wife hadn't returned to keep him company while he tried to dream sweet dreams.

He rolled out of Shay's bed and grabbed the spare set of clothes that he had taken to her room earlier the night before and walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower and shave his face before getting dressed and heading down stairs to see if he could find his woman and at least steal a morning kiss or two.

He flicked on the lights in her bathroom and blinked at the cream colored walls with sky blue curtains and carpeting and sighed. Wow, but he really needed to help her redo some of the rooms in the house. Redo them in something other than sky blue, cream, and buttercup yellow. Maybe he could talk Shay into something nicer like mauve or mint green, hell even an aqua would be nice. At least the colors were neutral.

He set his clothes down on the counter and stripped off the sweat pants he had started wearing to bed out of habit, because he had been living in the same house with a lady, something that had taken time to get used too. And grabbed a towel from the spray painted, silver towel rack and turned on the water in the shower and stepped under the spray.

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Anko was being a pain in the ass.

Even Tsunade would admit this with a cringe, as she listened to the woman talk down to the poor young woman that Kakashi had taken up with. "Hey. Are you stupid or something? I asked you to make my eggs scrambled." Anko said in an overly loud voice as Shay set her plate in front of her and started to walk away when there was a loud shattering sound and Shay turned around to look at Anko and the scrambled eggs laying among the broken glass on the floor.

"Woops! So _sorry_. I guess you'll have to clean up this mess and start again." Anko said almost cheerfully and Shay thinned her lips and stared at the woman for a second or so before walking back into the kitchen to finish cooking for her other guests as everyone at the table watched her to see what she would do.

Anko sat back in her seat and made a happy humming sound even as Sakura, Iruka, Tsunade, and Jiriaya all glared at Anko. They were really of half a mind to take the woman around back and beat her for acting so rudely in someone elses home.

Shay returned a moment or so later with a second plate and put it on the floor and turned around to walk away again when Anko growled. "Hey bitch, I'm up here. If you have something to give me then-"

Anko never knew what hit her. One second she was in the middle of a put down and the next she was laying on her stomach on the floor with her arms twisted up behind her back and her face was being pushed into the warm food that Shay had put on the floor.

"If your going to act like an animal, I'll treat you like one...I suggest that you eat whats in front of you. Because I'm not feeding you anything else until you learn two very important things. One, you are a _guest_ in _my_ home. And two, you check that damn _attitude_ of yours at the door, because I will not abide by such rudeness from _any_ of you for _any _reason. Again. " Shay said in a dangerously soft voice as she shifted her hold on the woman's wrists and leaned down and grabbed a handful of her thick burgundy hair and jerked her head back out of the scrambled eggs and started walking, dragging Anko across the floor by her hair.

Anko screamed and tried to claw her hand in an effort to get free but Shay refused to let go no matter how badly her hand and arm got scratched. She reached the kitchen door and kicked it open then grabbed the back of Anko's shirt and threw her out the door then slammed it shut and locked it.


	21. Chapter 21

Everyone at the table sat there gaping at her as she leaned her back against the door as Anko started to beat on it, screaming at the top of her lungs that she was going to kill the girl for humiliating her. Shay didn't say anything, didn't even look as if she were listening to the horrible things that Anko was screaming as she looked at them before making a huffing sound and then walking back into the kitchen as Kakashi came walking into the room fully dressed in a plaid shirt, jeans, and combat boots.

His expression as dark as a thunder cloud. "What. The. Fuck. Is. Anko. Screaming?" He growled as he looked at them all, his temper showing in his eyes. Tsunade looked away as Iruka and Genma and several of the others all pretended interest in the wall paper, their food, their finger nails and other things.

He was about to walk over to the table when a piece of glass crunched under his foot and he looked down at the broken glass and food on the floor and frowned for a second then turned towards Shay and studied her back for a second before asking, "Did Anko break this dish?"

There was a series of uncomfortable replies. Some more detailed than others and the man sighed and knelt down and picked up a few pieces of the broken glass. Not really caring if he cut his fingers or his hand any as he stood back up and walked over to the door and unlocked it.

Everyone in the room tensed and started to tell him not to let Anko back in as he opened the door and flung the glass at the woman then brought his leg up and kicked her in the stomach while she was distracted and sent her flying off of the porch and then turned and quickly said to Shay as she came out of the kitchen. "Sorry for the trouble, honey. I'll take care of the bitch."

Then slipped out the door and firmly closed it before anyone could say anything.

Shara looked over at them then pointed at the door. "He's not going to hurt her is he?"

"Hurt her?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

"Really? Nine no's. And he isn't going to hurt her?" One of her guests sounded surprised.

"God your such a terrible liar, Sakura." One man hissed.

"They're all lying to you. Kakashi's going to kill her." The man with the long white hair pulled back into a ponytail said. Shay blinked at them and then started for the door when one of them, the man with the dark hair pulled back into a pony tail, with the scar across the bridge of his nose, grasped her wrist and stopped her.

"Don't interfere. Kakashi's pissed at Anko for threatening you. He needs to straiten her out so that she'll never think to try something stupid or threaten you again."

Shay looked at the hand holding onto her wrist and felt the nearly overwhelming need to slap the hell out of the man holding her in place. She didn't want Kakashi's help with Anko. She didn't need his help with her. She could take care of herself, dammit.

So why was everyone here acting like she was so fucking weak? "_Let go_."

"And let you go out there and get hurt? Your crazy. And Kakashi would have my ass."

Shay looked at him and said very softly, "_I'm_ about to have your sorry ass if you don't let go."


	22. Chapter 22

_Well okay then. _Iruka thought as he let go of Shay's wrist and moved back out of the way so that she could go over to the door.

She opened it and saw Kakashi had the woman, Anko by her hair and was dragging the kicking and screaming woman towards the barn where he could beat her senseless no doubt.

Shay let out a disgusted sound and stepped outside.

Such senseless violence was beneath Kakashi. Besides that, his opponite was a _woman_. And while she knew that he was _unhappy_ that said woman had attacked her in her own home, she could take care of herself, thank you very much.

She walked down the porch steps and walked across the dirt driveway, steadily closing in on Kakashi as Iruka and several others all crowded around her kitchen door to watch what would happen next.

"Ten bucks says that that pretty little thing kills both Kakashi _and_ Anko." Genma said cheerfully. There were several amused and excited murmurs from a few others. This was the most action they'd seen in a while. So they were hoping that it'd be good.

And it was if the look on Kakashi's face was any indication at all when Shay managed to catch up to him and pull him to a stop.

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"Kakashi stop-" Shay said as she grabbed the angry ex-military man's wrist and dug her heels in. Kakashi turned his head a little bit and glanced at her over one of his shoulders and then looked away and sighed.

"What is it Shay? I'm in the middle of something." Kakashi said as he let go of Anko's hair and dropped her, then stepped on her back. Placing one foot dangerously close to her neck to pin her in place then partially turned his body so that he was looking at Shay and then crossed his arms.

Shay took a deep breath then without warning kicked his foot off of Anko's back and growled, "Your acting like an ass. Knock it off."

Kakashi blinked at her for a second before his jaw dropped. _Oh you have got to be kidding me-_ He thought darkly as he snapped his mouth closed and glared at her.

"I'm acting like an ass? She _attacked_ you in your own home for_ no_ damn reason. And _I'm_ the ass. Honey, I think you've got your wires crossed somewhere. Anko isn't your friend. She attacked you with the sole purpose of embarassing and humiliating you. Of making you feel worthless and helpless-"

"I know that, Kakashi. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you was stupid, Shay. But I don't understand why your interfering." Kakashi said in an frustrated tone.

"For two reasons Kashi-" Shay said as she held up two fingers. "One, I'm not a little kid. I don't need you to protect me from your friends-" He opened his mouth to tell her that she was wrong. That his friends were mostly _unhinged_, and ruthless _killers_.

Just to make her see things from his point of view; but somehow managed to stay silent. Wanting to at least hear her out before he shot her down.

"Yes, Anko attacked me with the intent to make me feel worthless and such, but I already _knew_ that and managed just fine on my own. And two, she's a woman Kakashi. A hostile and violent woman. But a woman never the less. And you, as a _man_ aren't supposed to stick your nose into a fight between women. Just like _I_ shouldn't stick my nose into a fight between you and another man. It makes me look weak and unable to fend for myself."

Some of the anger drained out of Kakashi as he mulled over her words. Well hell, when she put it that way it's no wonder she looked pissed. He'd made her look defenseless with his impulsive actions.

"Alright, Shay. I understand your point of view, now here is mine. Anko has a very volital temper. Always have. Always will. She's also been in and out of jail since she was a kid. You don't know any of the charges against her, and god knows that I'm _not_ going to tell you. All I can say is that Anko; like the rest of the group watching us from the kitchen door-" Shay looked towards the house and scowled at the lot standing in the door way. "They're all insane on some level. And whats more is that they're killers. If they decide that they really don't like you-"

"They can_ literally_ make you disappear. Which was why I decided to step in. I've known the lot of them for years, and who would be better at watching your back and taking them to task when they do something wrong? Hm."

"Alright. I understand. But that's still no excuse for attacking a woman, Kashi." Shay said gently. Kakashi sighed and looked down at Anko who'd been strangely silent the whole time that they'd been talking.

She was still laying on the ground, having not even bothered to move a muscle. "Get up and go off somewhere until I cool down." Kakashi ordered in a dark tone.


	23. Chapter 23

Everyone steered clear of Kakashi for the rest of the morning to allow him time to cool off while they all spent some time asking Shay various questions.

Like how long had she lived at the ranch? How old was she? Where were her parents? Was she an only child? How had she met Kakashi?

Shay had been hanging the laundry out to dry during their questioning and had nearly dropped what was in her hand when one of them had asked that last question. The group, read her body languange and sensed a story behind it and waited for her to answer as she caught the shirt that she had dropped and sighed as she hung it up.

"I don't care much for that question. If you really want to know then ask Kakashi. I'm sure that he could tell you more about our meeting than I could." Shay said as she bent down and grasped another artivle of clothing when the blond woman who had introduced herself as Tsunade asked out of the blue.

"Did you know that this ranch used to belong to a guy named Hurizen Sarutobi?" Shay went totally still upon hearing the woman say her late grandfather's name and slowly turned to look at the brown eyed woman. Her face pale, expression blank.

"Y-Yes actually. I've heard of him." Shay said tentiatively. The woman gave her a peculiar look then smiled one of those fake happy smiles that churned her stomach.

"That's wonderful, Shayera! Do you have any idea about what happened to him? My Friend Jiriaya and I would like to visit him."

"That's...impossible-" Shay said after a second or so as she nervously fidgeted with one of her shirt sleeves. The woman tilted her head a little bit and stared at her through narrowed eyes.

"Why is it impossible, girly? Sarutobi was in perfect health the last time I heard anything from him."

"And how long ago was that?" Shay asked in a guarded tone that had the others sitting on the porch looking at her just as strangely.

"Close to nine years, I think."

"A lot can happen in nine years." Shay pointed out in a gentle tone. Tsunade gave her a dark look and walked down the porch steps and crossed her arms over her obsenely large breasts and glared at her.

"So?"

"So, it isn't my place to tell you anything. If you really wan to know where Sarutobi is then you should take a walk-" Shay turned and pointed in the direction where she had buried her grandfather, figuring that this was the best solution to Tsunade's questions.

She didn't want to tell the woman that the man was dead. And as cowardly as it was, she didn't want to be asked about how he died either. She wasn't sure she could face the woman if she knew that he'd died in his home from a gun shot wound that he'd gotten from protecting her.

Shay thought that in some way the woman would blame her for what had happened. Like it was her fault that some asshole had come after her over something that had happened before she was born.

"You should look for him over there." Shayera said as Tsunade glanced where she was pointing and frowned before turning back to her.

"There's nothing there."

"There is. He is. You just have to look hard enough."

Tsunade gave her a warning look then started walking in the direction she had pointed. Shay waited until she was out of eye sight before she gave the others a more than nervous look and quickly started walking around the corner of the house.

Once she reached the corner everyone watched in amusement and dismay as she suddenly took off running for the field where Kakashi had gone off too after his little tiff with Anko that morning.

"Well...that was weird." Sakura said as Shay disappeared from sight. Iruka made a humming sound and scratched his left cheek.

Weird didn't even begin to cover Shayera's reaction to Tsunade's questions. But he figured that they would be getting answers soon enough anyways, so why not sit back and watch the fun.


	24. Chapter 24

Kakashi was fixing one of the old wooden fences that had started to decay. He'd been shifting the wood, holding them into place and nailing the pieces together ever since he'd walked off to calm himself down after his temper tantrum this morning.

He was still a little bit upset about what had happened with Anko but for different reasons.

He couldn't believe that he had lost his cool to such a degree that he had actually wanted to beat the hell out of the vindictive bitch for attacking Shay in her kitchen. He _knew_ better. Yet he hadn't been able to help himself. In that moment Anko hadn't been a woman to him, but an enemy that had to be dealt with before Shayera got hurt.

It was a little after noon and he was sweating like mad due to the freak heat wave they had been suffering through for the past week or so and had stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside somewhere.

He dug a nail out of the little box sitting on the ground next to his leg while he used one hand and his knee to hold the latest piece of damndable wood in place so that he could fix it up nice enough that Shayera's horses wouldn't be able to break it down when they were galloping around.

He managed to get a few nails, and put the tips into his mouth then reached for the hammer when he saw something heading towards him out of the corner of his eye.

He turned his head a little bit more and blinked as Shay came running up and collapsed to the ground just beside him and doubled over panting. He set the hammer aside and took the nails out of his mouth then reached out and put one of his hands on her back, just between her shoulders and patted her. "Did you get exiled too? Or were you chased out?"

Shay straightened her back a little bit and looked at him as she tried to catch her breath. "N-Neither... Tsunade- Questions-" Kakashi cocked his head and gave her a funny look. Not really understanding what she was trying to say.

"Catch your breath baby. I can't understand gibberish." He said as he pulled his arm back and jerked when she growled, bowed her head and tried to bite him. He gave her a wide eyed look as he rubbed the spot on the inside of his elbow where her teeth had scaped his skin.

In all the time he'd known Shay she had only tried to bite him once. And she had been particularly upset at the time. So taking her actions into account, he could safely assume that she was upset about something. But what? He wondered as she finally caught her breath.

"Tsunade was asking about my grandpa."

Kakashi blinked and gave her a slightly puzzled look. Wondering why Tsunade would ask about Shayera's grandfather. "Maybe she's just curious." He said in a gentle tone. Shay got a wide eyed slightly alarmed look on her pretty face and shook her head no, making him frown.

"She knew his name Kakashi!"

"She did?" He asked in surprised tone.

Shay nodded her head as he thought for a moment before making a 'hn'ing sound. _Well, well-_ If Tsunade had somehow known Shay's grandpa them he could sort of understand why Shay had come running so far from the house just to see him. She was probably scared of what might happen in the unlikely event Tsunade had known her grandfather.

She was probably worried that like Anko, Tsunade would attack her. Reaching out Kakashi put his hands on Shay's hips and lifted her up off of the ground and settled her in his lap and kissed her lightly on the lips and crooned. "My poor baby..." He kissed her again, taking his time to kiss her breathless before pulling back and saying in an half teasing tone.

"Chased out her own house by a bunch of crazy people. Well- No matter, at least I get you to myself for a while." He leaned his head down to nip at her throat causing her to shriek and squirm in his grasp when a loud, _horrified_ scream caused them both to jerk and turn to look in the direction of the house.

Shayera cringed and looked around nervously as Kakashi set her back down on the ground and started to get up, a frown marring his features. "What the hell are those morons doing over there?"

"Finding grandpa's grave I'd imagine." Kakashi paused and looked back at her, his eyes narrowed a little bit.

"You didn't tell Tsunade that your grandpa was dead did you?"

"No."

"Then what was that scream about Shay?"

"I pointed her in the direction of his grave." Kakashi sighed tiredly and sat back down next to her.

"Are you scared that she'll blame you?"

"If it was you then wouldn't you blame me?"

Kakashi thought for a minute, unsure of what to say when Shay said. "She doesn't know me Kakashi. And people tend to jump to the wrong conclusions when they don't _know_ someone well."


End file.
